This lecture dealt with the disaster management scenario of the country from the current
perspectives of natural and man-made disaster and presented examples and case studies in sustainable development by Bio-Engineering measures: Harvest Rainwater, Protect
Infrastructure, Protect Coastlines, Protect Waterways, Protect Flood-prone Land, Protect Farmland,
Sequester Carbon, Facilitate Reforestation and Plantation Establishment, Treat Liquid Wastes etc. The lecture also focused on the use of native grasses like Chrysopogon zizanioides todealwiththe problem of soil erosion.

Professor Ghosh talked about how in recent times the problems of deforestation, increased flooding by major rivers, and reduced dry-season water flows for irrigation and urban and industrial supplies have got a lot of attention. He however lamented the fact that the massive problem of soil erosion and, more specifically, the need to reduce soil and water losses caused by excessive rainfall runoff has not received enough attention.

Bio-Sketch of Professor Chandan Ghosh

Prof. Ghosh obtained his B.Tech. degree in Civil Engineering from Bengal Engineering College
(IIEST), M.Tech. from Jadavpur University, PhD from IIT Kanpur (1992) and another PhD (2004) from
Ibaraki University, Japan. He joined National Institute of Disaster Management, Delhi in 2006. Prior to
this, he had worked at Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University and at Indian Meteorological
Department. His area of expertise are reinforced earth, application of geo-synthetics for landslides,
slope stability & erosion control, geotechnical & geophysical exploration, disaster resistant housing
technologies, retrofitting and earthquake risk mitigation and management. Since July 2006 he is
serving as Prof. & Head, Geohazards Division, NIDM, Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt. of India, New
Delhi. He has phenomenal field exposure and professional credence in the disaster documentation
such as Leh cloud burst-2010, Sikkim Earthquake-2011, Lalita Park building collapse-2011,
Uttarakhand Flood-2013, Seismic Vulnerability assessment by RVS across the country.